Get quality clicks for less.

Last week we looked at getting more click-throughs on your adverts (and spending more).

This week we look at 5 ways to spend less on getting high quality traffic.

1. Stay on message

Watch Apple's strong message at each point...

Apple repeat the searcher's own words back to her:

• She searches for ipod nano
• The advert talks about an ipod nano (twice)
• The page says "Select your ipod nano"

Apple get extra points for putting those words ("Select your ipod nano") directly underneath her mouse - she has just clicked there and is still looking at that part of the screen.

Using a consistent message - especially the visitor's own words - can achieve 20-30% boosts in conversion.

Visitors feel "anchored" and orientated when they see that you've got what they want. Then they convert.

2. Use a Landing Page

If you are selling products on a shopping cart then you will already be sending PPC visitors to pages where they can see and buy the products you advertise.

But a lot of other sites are still sending traffic to their home page.

Don't do this: instead you need a dedicated Landing Page for each of your campaigns.

A Landing Page is the visitor's first impression of your site. Typically you have 8 seconds to convince her that

1. She can trust the site and your company
2. She can get what she is looking for
3. It's going to be easy to get it from your site

If you just dump her on your home page then she will struggle with #2 and #3.

Expect gains of as much as 40-50% by using Landing Pages.

3. Where in the world... ?

Only run your PPC campaigns in regions that you can supply.
With Google you can target right down to a part of the country - for example New Zealand has 14 regions and you can switch each region on or off.

Another tip: if you only sell or work in one City - then put the City name in your advert to avoid out-of-town clickers.

4. Times and days

You can schedule your adverts to appear and disappear by day of the week and by the hour.

Have a look at the best times for conversions then schedule your adverts to disappear at other times.
Can you sell at weekends ? At 11 p.m. ?

My own experience of selling products online is that any time is a good time - people are still shopping online at 2 a.m. But for services or lead generation it can be very different.

5. Avoid timewasters with negative keywords

Say you're selling an eczema cream for children. Well a lot of dogs get eczema as well - so you need to add "dog" to your list of negative keywords.

Doing this means that googlers looking for
"eczema in dogs"
will never see your advert.

A lot depends on what you're selling: your lists could include dozens or hundreds of words that tell you the searcher is really looking for something else.

"Free" is a good start to most negative lists.

Bonus tip: show a price on your ad

This helps you avoid the bargain-hunters who think they can get their piano tuned for $25.

More reading

Bryan Eisenberg on Landing Pages
Google help on negative keywords
John Hyde on improving you AdWords adverts